Appalachian Academy of Magic
by River Eridani
Summary: AAM is a school for magicals with mutant abilities and half humans who might not be able to attend a normal magical school, run by Agatha Harkness. Harry, Hermione, and Ororo go to school, with more magic, more power, and more fun!
1. Chapter 1

Appalachian Academy of Magic

Opened in 1895 by George Palacios, a magical born to a very wealthy muggle family, the Appalachian Academy of Magic takes student who might otherwise be unable to attend most other schools. At this time, there was not a single school of magic in the world that would accept students who were not fully human, save Beaubaton's Academy in France, who would accept Veela. While Hogwarts was in the process of allowing a Filius Flitwick, the grandson of a prominent Goblin, to attend, Palacios decided it was prudent to open a school that would accept student regardless of their heritage, so long as they had the ability to wield wizard's magic. While few knew it at the time, Palacios had a personal reason, that being his daughter was half banshee, and therefore would not be accepted into Ilvermorny, regardless of how much money he threw at the school.

And so, Appalachian Academy of Magic was born. Located near Asheville, North Carolina in the United States, the school was hidden behind wards far outstripping any school Palacios had been able to visit. The idea was simple, not only would they be able to protect the students, but they would even be able to protect themselves from the MCUSA government if the decided to give the school issues.

In 1903, Agatha Harkness was hired as the Ritual Magic Professor, and brought to the schools attention the issue of mutant magicals. While most mutant abilities manifested after school age, or were explainable away as magic, there was a small group of mutants in the world whose mutations made them unable to fit in. The first mutant magical student would be accepted the following year; Genevie Rowle, who had been born with a prehensile tale and slightly green skin, but still possessed a magical core.

This would open the proverbial flood gates, as AAM became the go to school for any student who had the ability and drive, regardless of the circumstance of their birth. Over time a small village would crop near the school (though still inside the outer wards) that consisted of family members of students who would not be accepted in any normal magical setting as their choice in partner (ie not both being the same species) would cause issue. The school served students from all over the globe, contacting students as soon as they were identified to offer them sanctuary, as many mutants and halflings had a very hard time even surviving to school age.

-o-o-

A tall, elderly woman with hair in a loose bun was not an unusual character for the headmistress of a school. Her robes of deep forest green might give some pause, but not many in the circles that the school tended to teach. Her grey eyes held intelligence and not a little humor, but there was also the look of one who had seen too much of the world, and still found joy in it. No, the truly odd thing about this woman was that she was over three hundred years old, and had no intention of retiring just yet. Another year for sure. Probably a few after that.

Headmistress Agatha Harkness strode into a room in the heart of the school that only she, as headmistress, was even aware of existing. In the center of the room was the main loadstone of the school's wards, a stone over forty feet high and twenty wide covered in dozens of runes and interwoven with enough spells to make you nauseous. She was after the only other thing in the room though, a large green book on a pedestal about halfway to the loadstone.

This book had properties that no normal book would have, being self updating and capable of identifying prospective students anywhere on the planet. In fact, it was designed to give the reader information on any being born with a magical core (therefore capable of using the magic of witches and wizards) who had what one might consider extenuating circumstances. Mutants, half humans, and outright nonhuman beings who had the ability to wield their magic. About one in every three thousand goblins had the ability, but as it was illegal for a goblin to have a wand according to the International Statute of Secrecy. Not that Harkness cared, she still taught them. Most magicals were fairly terrified of her, and those that weren't were not intelligent enough to concern her. It was much more rare for others, though she had seen a handful of centaurs, two house-elves, a half dozen gnomes and dwarves each, and one giant. Merpeople seemed to have at least one in every year group.

Half humans made up the majority of every year, mostly half goblin and dwarf, though basically any two sentients could have children together given magic as a medium. She had heard rumors as a young woman of one of her contemporaries having a child with a sphinx, though had never had it confirmed.

Mutants made up the last group and were an interesting challenge for the school. Many mutants were able to attend other schools, and the book wouldn't recommend those who had no signs of their mutation. Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, was a mutant after all, and hardly anyone realized it since he tended to pass it off as being gifted with wandless magic, but was actually a telekinetic and minor telepath. Most mutant students were also no-maj born, but a few were different. There was even a mutant half troll who would be starting her sixth year soon. Super strength in a half troll was something to see.

Flipping to the current year, she began set up a quill and ink to write out the envelops that would be delivered telling the family the time a school representative would be dropping by. She had never figured out how the first arithmancy professor had done it, but it basically made the families plans for that time and date work out for the meeting. But she had taken that secret to the grave about fifteen years ago. It still annoyed Agatha though.

As the quill began to write, she was interested to see the size of the class, thirty had to be one of the largest classes she had ever seen. Mind, that was only if they all accepted places, but few had ever declined a direct offer. She only saw a couple who might refuse. The werewolf in Ireland might be able to go to Hogwarts, but she would do her best to talk her out of it if she could, as England's werewolf laws were actually worse than they had been during Agatha's youth. The list of mutants was interesting, as it looked like there was giant who was also a mutant. That would be interesting to deal with. _I just hope he doesn't match that average giant intelligence._ But the one that nearly made her drop the book was a seemingly normal entry, by her standards.

Just beneath _Hermione Jane Granger, 16 Heathgate Street, Hampstead, England; witch, mutant_ was _Harry James Potter, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, England; witch, mutant_. Harry Potter was a mutant? That could certainly put a wrench in the Brits ideals. They still tried to pretend mutants didn't even exist. Agatha cackled a bit, "Oh yes, Mister Potter will be coming to me."

While she had to have the quill rewrite the entry after Potter, a mutant with a pretty cool name, Ororo Monroe, due to the quill writing her comment and cackle in the middle of her address on the savanna, she was nonetheless in an ecstatic mood. She had a couple students she wanted to meet personally now.

-o-o-

_Hey guys, this is just a little idea of mine, a school run by Agatha Harkness for mutants and halflings who might not be able to get the same education that would be afforded to most magicals. Yes, this will be a crossover with Marvel, but for now it will mostly focus on the magical and mutant side of things, but not to much of the Marvel storylines._

_If I get some interest in this, hopefully it will turn into a nice long story, but for now it is just a rough idea!_

_Thanks,_

_RiverEridani_


	2. What is AAM?

**What is AAM?**

Petunia Dursley, a thin woman with a long face, was using her unusually long neck to crane around the curtain into her neighbor's sitting room, trying to ascertain the reason for her actually smiling at the _Freak_ this last week. She was certain they had successfully protected the neighbors from his freakishness, yet Missus Cariston had actually smiled at the Freak and waved when he was out pruning the roses. Everything looked normal. Maybe she was just complimenting his gardening skills? There was no doubt that the Freak had good skills in the garden. He did weird and unnatural things all the time, but he had taken her lessons on gardening to heart. No doubt about it. Her garden looked like something in a magazine by now, something which she was very much hoping to have happen before long.

Walking back into her garden, Petunia was fairly happy that might have been the reason. Yes, maybe the boy's punishment for setting that horrid snake on Dudders and his friend Piers should be over soon. It had been three days since Vernon had let him out. But tomorrow, she didn't like seeing him after a punishment. Such a disgusting boy. Tomorrow she would get her hair done, and he could clean up and clean the cupboard while she was out. Maybe even get some extra gardening done. Yes, she would talk to Vernon this evening.

-o-o-

Emma Granger hugged Hermione before letting her get out of the Range Rover to go into the library. Hermione had always loved the library, and Emma was glad to promote that love. It would stand her in good stead to keep such a good habit going well into university. Though at only eleven that was some time off, but a parent should always be thinking ahead. Yes, her daughter was indeed a brilliant girl, and now they knew, a witch.

As Emma pulled out of the drive from the library, something that had been bothering the whole Granger family came back to her mind. Why did that professor, McGonagall, not know how Hermione could generate electricity from her hair? She had called it accidental magic, but the Grangers had seen that many a time and they weren't the same. Hermione was obsessively studying such things and was concerned that she might be a mutant, but the professor had said that was impossible. Hermione would find the answer in time. Questions would not go unanswered in the Granger household.

-o-o-

On the corner of Privet Drive, an old woman dressed in a very old fashioned, but still respectable dress, suddenly appeared with the faintest of pops, which might have just been her boots touching down on the ground. Taking a long look around at the perfectly uniform houses, she scowled lightly. Normalcy was not something she cared for too much, especially in a world that was changing as much as this one had in the last century. Walking along, she finally found a house that looked somewhat different than the others and was excited to see that it was even the house she had been looking for. Well, the house looked no different from 2 or 6, but the yard was indeed different. While the grassy sections still looked like a ruler was used to measure the grass, the gardens were a thing of beauty, even to her ancient eyes they looked masterful. The presence of wards also made her smile. Maybe the Potter boy had been taken by a family who only kept the house looking so normal for the heck of it.

The wards did surprise her though, as there was no warning or alert to her walking up to the door. In fact, as far as she could tell there was nothing but an intent-based blood ward designed to keep the household safe from outside forces. Maybe the family was actually muggles, with nothing but this simple ward protecting them and a penchant for gardening. As long as they were decent people. There had been a Potter, Hardwin Potter she thought, in the year ahead of her in Gryffindor. A good man and a good warrior, if a bit of a player.

Knocking on the door soon had a skinny woman whose neck looked almost like Mister Fantastic when he hadn't quite retracted his neck all the way stood in the door. Her light green eyes took in Agatha's appearance and seemed to find her acceptable, if old.

"Yes? I'm Petunia Dursley, how can I help you, ma'am?"

Agatha smiled at her in a pleasant way, "Hello, I'm here about Mister Harry Potter." She noticed that here all pleasant expression in the woman's face vanished, "My name is Agatha Harkness, I was a friend of his grandfather at school." Well, she figured it was actually a fourth or fifth great, but that was unimportant.

Petunia was white and shaking a little, but waved her in and quickly called to a Vernon to come out. Agatha had to wonder why not call Potter too, but there was no telling with muggles sometimes. Odd folks.

She had just been preparing her explanation of who she was, why she was here, and all the good stuff about her school when a man appeared, Vernon probably.

"Pet, who is this, are you ok?" He had not missed the bit of panic in her voice. His beady black eyes looked at Agatha like she couldn't possibly be the issue. Old age had its advantages after all.

"She is one of _them_, Vernon." The venom in the word was not lost on Agatha, and her eyes narrowed at the couple, "She is here about the F... er, Harry."

Vernon's face turned purple at an impressive speed before his voice boomed out, all pretense of being normal folks gone, "OUT! We swore when we took the boy in that we would stamp such nonsense out of him. We don't your kind… Arg!" He had shut up quite completely when she pulled her wand and pointed it at his throat, er well she assumed that was where he hid his throat.

"My kind? I am the same kind as Mister Potter, whom I pray, for your sake, is quite healthy and whole. Stamp it out of him?" Her voice had not risen, but the malice in it was enough to keep responses to fearful looks. "You can no more stop him from being what he is than you can stop breathing air. Where is he?" At their even more fearful looks, she infused some magic into her voice, "Bring him to me."

The command would not have had much effect on anyone with a strong will, but Vernon and Petunia were anything but strong. They turned and quietly went to a cupboard under the stairs. Agatha was starting to think she had messed up the magic and possibly damaged their minds until the door swung open. The smell was horrible, urine, feces, blood, and body odor clung to a mass that began to move silently. His terrified look at the adults told her even more, but the terrified look he turned to her was something that nearly broke her heart. Those eyes, which were indeed the exact shade of green of the killing curse, and incidentally a normal eye color for wood nymphs, were filled with fear she normally reserved for inflicting on the demons that occasionally tried to invade this dimension.

Her sorrow turned to anger when he realized that the only reason the boy would be afraid is if there were at least one other these sorry excuses for humans had brought to his cupboard to hurt him.

"Come along my boy, we need to get you cleaned up. Gather anything you want to take with you, you will not be returning." The book looked even more afraid at this.

"But I… Please… it was an accent I swear… The snake didn't hurt anyone…" He started crying and hyperventilating. Agatha did not know what he thought was going on but knew a destroyed soul when she saw one. This boy was on the edge of losing it, his magic swirling around him blackly. She sat on the floor just outside the cupboard. The Dursleys were frozen where they stood.

"Mister Potter, my name is Agatha Harkness. I'm not here to take you to Azkaban or something, but to take you somewhere with more people like you." She was startled by his small wail. Crying, even wailing this silently was not a good sign. Not that she had seen any good signs so far.

"Please, not the orphanage Miss Harkness. I promise I will be better. Please." Harry looked somewhat defiant, which almost made Agatha smile. They had tried to break him, and yet they failed. HA!

"I am going to take you to a school where you can learn to use your gifts rather than suppress them. Not an orphanage, not prison, but a place where you will not have to live like this." She gestured to his cupboard. There was a spark of hope, but it was tempered by the belief she would fail to actually live up to such a promise. "Get up, get cleaned up, and we will be off. I just need a word with your family."

"Not family, Ma'am, just my relatives."

She agreed with this distinction and nodded.

Harry Potter would never be returning to these people. Living at school would be better by far than this.

"Hold tightly to my arm, Mister Potter, this will be a bit of a shock."

-o-o-

Dudley Dursley was dropped off that evening by Missus Polkis, Piers' mom. When he walked in expecting to find a glorious second dinner on the table, he was shocked to find nothing at all. In fact, no matter how loud he wailed and screamed for food, neither his mother nor father appeared with food. Dudley angrily made his own food, nothing complicated since he had never even learned how to turn on the stove. It wasn't until he had eaten basically everything, he could find that didn't need to b cooked that he walked into the living room to find his parents. They were sitting on the couch, staring out into nothingness, breathing and blinking, but nothing else.

-o-o-

The sensation of being sucked backward through a small straw inserted into his navel was not something he really enjoyed. Nor was the lack of air for several moments, but they had arrived in a clearing, where she used some more weirdness to clean him up, and then sat down on a chair that hadn't existed when they arrived to explain magic to him. Magic existing was something he could hardly believe since it had been drilled into him since he could remember that such notions were rather dangerous, but he could also not deny the things this woman had done could not be explained by any normal means he knew of. The picnic basket she pulled from a pocket that should not have held a deck of cards also gave credence to this. The food was awesome though.

"So, I'm a wizard?"

"Indeed Mister Potter, as were your parents, and a long line of Potters before you." The headmistress smiled at him here, but he was terribly confused. If his parents were magical and could teleport, no she called it apparate, why were they driving a car drunk in the first place?

Harry hadn't realized his musing was out loud, but the little gasp from his new Headmistress let him know he had said something wrong. _Never ask questions_. That was the most important rule.

"Mister Potter, your parents did not die from driving drunk. I have no idea if they drank, or could even drive a car, as I did not personally know them. I do know however that their death was not some accident, but a horrible tragedy. . ." The Headmistress went on to explain about the war, Voldemort, and his miraculous survival.

"That is part of why I am specifically offering you a place at my school, Mister Potter. Appalachian Academy of Magic, which is located in the United States, would allow you to be away from all that overzealous blood purity that is as rampant at Hogwarts as it was in my time as a student there. Beyond that, the magic of our school has also identified you as a mutant. Mutants are not bad, Mister Potter, just different. I am myself a mutant, as are a great many of my students. We are willing to teach anyone capable of wizarding magic, not just humans and an occasional part human like most other schools.

"I will be honest, it is very likely that you could attend Hogwarts, where your parents went, located in Scotland. You are a mutant, but it has not apparently manifested itself by my understanding, and your look perfectly average to me. I would still encourage you to come to my school. Hogwarts was indeed once the greatest school of magic in the world, but I'm afraid that is not so much the case now. The current headmaster plays too much politics and practices to much forgiveness for my tastes. Bad behavior is not punished much, and bigotry is a major issue. I've seen the little looks you have any time I mention bigotry and discrimination in my little spiel and can tell you really hate the idea." Agatha was rather happy about that turn of events, as the Potters of her day were pretty bigoted. Of course, his mother had been a muggle-born so it was fairly likely that changed.

Harry was deep in thought now. His parents had gone to this Hogwarts place, but the headmistress made it sound like a pretty bad place. He had hated being treated like he was different and therefor scum at the Dursleys. To think that Hogwarts allowed that kind of thing with nothing more than general disapproval made him uncomfortable. From what she had said, he knew he would face very little of it, but he still didn't like the idea. Plus, she might make him go back to the Dursleys if he didn't want to go to her school.

"How about you join me for the normal spiel about the school when I go to talk to another prospective student? I should be meeting with the Grangers tomorrow around eleven, and I believe they have already had a representative from Hogwarts come out to see them, so you can get a good idea ok?" Harkness seemed pleased that he had not jumped to a decision lightly.

She proceeded to blow his mind again, as she pulled a tent from the same pocket the picnic basket had been in and showed that it was bigger on the inside. For the first time in his memory, Harry Potter slept on a real bed.

-o-o-

The next morning dawned rather early for Harry, as he had no idea what chores Headmistress Harkness might want him to do. But he was fairly certain he had seen a kitchen through one side of the tent and wasn't that weird to think about, and knew everyone liked breakfast. By the time Harkness woke up at half-past nine, he had a full spread awaiting her. A stocked kitchen was a good kitchen in his opinion, and this was a very good kitchen indeed.

Headmistress Harkness strode into the kitchen in a dress that once again looked elegant, but also somewhat old fashioned. Her eyebrows rose a bit at the food, but she nevertheless gave him a small smile and sat down, beginning to make herself a plate.

"While this is most appreciated, you know you don't have to do this Mister Potter, I am quite capable of making our food myself."

Harry was a bit shocked by this, never having someone make him food since he was tall enough to make his own and said so. The headmistress' eyes narrowed a little, a sign similar to Aunt Petunia meaning anger, or possibly disgust, but it was harder to tell with this older woman. She seemed very controlled most of the time.

"If you choose to come to the academy, you will certainly learn about responsibilities and taking care of yourself, but you will also be taken care of in many ways. You will have to learn to accept help and care from others, as well as caring for others. It is generally considered the responsibility of adults to take care of children, of which you still are." She took a bite of the food, and some of her control broke, her eyes flashing with pleasure. "On the other hand, I think you may be helping in the kitchens some. They would love to make stuff like this. It's been a long time since I was surprised by the taste of food. Excellent."

Harry blushed, but also knew he was as good at cooking as he was at gardening. Being good at certain chores meant that he could be left alone while he did them and cooking also allowed him to eat as he cooked, in case Uncle Vernon or Dudley decided to eat his portion.

After breakfast was over, where Harry was still somehow surprised that he had eaten as much as he wanted for the first time in memory. When he realized there were lots of leftovers, and really didn't know what do with them, never really having that as an option at his relatives. Harkness just waved her wand, and Harry watched in wide-eyed amazement as the food was packaged, placed in what looked like a normal pantry, but was cold (he had tentatively called it a refrigerator when he was cooking), and the dishes began to clean themselves.

"Get dressed and comb your hair Mister Potter, we will be heading to the Granger residence to have our discussion. If not mistaken about their address, it is a more affluent neighborhood than where you lived, but I imagine you have some nice clothes?" Her eyebrow raised the statement into a question, as she realized that the rags he was wearing were barely any better than the rags she had found him in. No blood or muck, but certainly bad fitting and ill washed. At his embarrassed, "no ma'am," she sighed, feeling more right about her little hex on the Dursley adults. They would be ok in the long run but were stuck in a world of fear while she was in the same country. With another wave of her wand she transfigured his clothes into something rather nice looking on him, though noticed his hair simply ignored the magic to make it lay flat. A Potter indeed.

"Those will last a couple of hours, and then turn back to normal. I will take you shopping for clothes when we get back to the academy, or if you choose to attend Hogwarts, I will take you shopping before we find someone for you to stay with. People who I know are trustworthy, if it comes to it, though of course, I hope you will come to the school."

Harry was absolutely ecstatic about the idea of clothes shopping, having never been but knowing how much Dudley and Aunt Petunia enjoyed it. He was still unsure about which school to go to, but nonetheless, really like this strange woman.

-o-o-

The Grangers did indeed live in a rather affluent neighborhood. Harry had been fairly shocked when he saw their house, as it was the kind of house that Aunt Petunia only dreamed about a gorgeous, three-story stone house, with a wide lawn, though very little in the way of a garden.

Upon ringing the doorbell, they were met with a family of very affable looking brunettes, each with hair frizzier than the last. The girl, who looked older than Harry, but he had to assume was about the same age since she would also be starting school at the same time.

"Hello, Headmistress Harkness?" The man said with an easy smile, but Harry could also tell there was some caginess to the man too.

"Indeed." They seemed slightly taken aback by her British accent. "And this is another prospective student of either Appalachian Academy or Hogwarts. His family was… uninterested in his magical education, so I thought it best to bring him somewhere where he might find some advice aside from that of the Headmistress of one of the prospective schools. Since you actually replied to my letter, I assumed you would be more receptive."

The Grangers looked at the boy with concern, but Harry could also see resolve to help him make a good decision in all three eyes.

"Well, we will most certainly be happy to help you, young man. I'm Dan, this is Emma, and our daughter, and your prospective classmate, Hermione."

"Hi, I'm Harry, Harry Potter. Nice to meet you."

"Wait, Harry Potter? You're Harry Potter!? I've read all about you in…" Hermione was cut off by her father's hand laying on her shoulder.

"Now dear, don't be rude. Why is his name so important?" Emma looked at him with a 'what can you do' kind of look. So Hermione and Headmistress Harkness began an explanation of what made Harry so famous, though Hermione was rather incensed when Harry said he didn't know anything about it.

"Until Headmistress Harkness showed up to tell me that I'm a wizard, I had no idea. My relatives always told me there was no such thing as magic." Harry was happy to see they were nodding. Magic was a shocking explanation.

"Why don't we sit down and let Headmistress Harkness pitch her school. I just can't imagine why we would want Hermione to attend school in America." Emma seemed legitimately worried about sending their daughter to a different country, without them.

"Indeed, it doesn't seem normal to most parents, but Hermione and Harry here have extenuating circumstances that most students don't. As a matter of fact, these two are the only ones in Britain who I am even offering attend. Have you heard of mutants?"

Emma and Dan seemed a bit surprised by the non-sequitur, but Hermione immediately popped up. "Of course, that would explain why Professor McGonagall didn't understand the electricity in my hair."

"I take it you have found that you are a mutant then? Electrical hair is an interesting mutation. Would you care to show us?"

Hermione jumped up and concentrated for a moment, her hair seemed to puff up even more, and then thin bands of lightning began to cascade down her hair. Harry was in awe of this too. It made a girl who barely looked any older than him look absolutely powerful.

"Very interesting my dear. That is why I am offering you two a place at my school. Appalachian Academy of Magic specializes in students who might not fit in in a normal academic setting. Most of our students are half-humans, like a half-goblin, giant, house-elf, etc. We also are the only school in the world that allows nonhumans capable of our magic to attend at all.

"Our other group of students is mutants. Most mutants don't manifest their abilities until later in life, but some do quite young. Some mutants also have outward signs of their mutation. One of our professors, for instance, has bright green skin, and as such was not allowed to attend Durmstrang, even though he was within their area.

"We prefer to give every being with the ability to perform witch or wizarding magic the opportunity to, without discrimination. While you both look like normal people, your ability will be written off as interesting magic, and never cultivated. I don't know what Mister Potter's will be, but it will be the same.

"Of course, we also have a couple of other reasons to promote our school. While I am sure you were told that Hogwarts is the best school of magic in the world, the facts should speak for themselves."

Here she pulled a few pamphlets from another pocket. Handing them over she continued. "These are the school rankings according to the International Confederation of Wizards. The default view will indeed indicate that Hogwarts is the premier school in the world. However, the default view does not count scores and achievements of any student who is not purely human, nor any student who is nomaj born, or muggleborn as it is called here."

"Wait, any achievement our Hermione makes will not be considered valid at the international level!?" Dan looked like he was ready to strangle someone. No one degraded his daughter apparently.

"Ah, no, on the international level, Doctor Granger, your daughter will garner mixed reviews. Her achievements will be hailed by some, ignored by others, and derided by others still. The individual country decides the default view for these pamphlets, not the ICW itself. As soon as I came back to Britain, the order changed to reflect the personal views of some of the people in power here." The headmistress looked a little displeased to have that happen but didn't make the rules.

"If, however, one opens the parameters to all students, you will see," here she tapped each pamphlet with her wand, "that Hogwarts moves down to the third place. The first is Appalachian Academy, and the second is Castelbruxo in Brazil. Hogwarts is an amazing school, no doubt, but it lacks a great many subjects that other schools partake in.

"For instance, when I attended Hogwarts runes and arithmancy, which is basically magical versions of writing and math, were mandatory classes, while ritual magic and magical languages were electives. They outlawed ritual magic in Britain a hundred and seven years ago, and I think they got rid of magical languages the following year."

"Excuse me, did you say you took those classes, but one of them was outlawed over a hundred years ago?" Hermione seemed rather confused by that.

"I did. This is usually something you learn about in History of Magic, but magicals tend to live a lot longer than non-magicals. The average human lives around 70 years, up to about 110 at max. The average magical lives about 150 years, and can live ridiculously longer than that. I was born in 1667, and am now more than three hundred years old. While that is very unusual, it is not outside of possibility. I think I'm in the top ten oldest witches in the world, but I might not be. In Britain, you won't see many witches and wizards that are particularly old, due to how many Dark Lords have cropped up in the last century or two."

Harry was surprised by that revelation, but the Grangers were purely amazed. Being doctors, he supposed they knew a lot more about how the human body worked than most. The idea of living that long had a certain appeal to anyone, and he could see that the Grangers were excited to know their daughter might well live to see her fourth great-grandchildren without being considered ancient.

"Back to the point though, many classes that were once offered are not, but at AAM we offer every class that any other school offers, at least as an elective. Electives don't come into play until your third year, so don't get too antsy now Miss Granger."

Hermione looked fit to burst at the idea of extra classes. Harry mused that being her friend would probably entail a great deal of time working on classes. He just hoped she would like him trying to do well. He really didn't want to always be in Dudley's shadow, but it had been necessary before. But now, perhaps not.

The discussion continued late into the evening, the Grangers asking questions, and even getting Harry to ask a few of his own. He had never been allowed to ask questions before, and breaking that habit wasn't easy. It was well after lunch, which the Grangers provided, nothing even remotely unhealthy he noticed when the decision was finally made.

Appalachian Academy of Magic gained two students that day. The world would never be the same.


	3. A school for all

**Chapter Three - A School for All**

Harry was in absolute heaven, by comparison to his last residence, with his room at the school. When the school year started, this room would become one of the boy's first-year dorms, of which there should be three, but for now he had his own room. It was larger than his Uncle and Aunt's room by quite a bit, and the bed was massively comfortable. Old style four-poster beds were awesome for boarding schools, giving the occupant some much needed privacy.

The room itself was nothing compared to the school. A massive, four-story building that looked basically like a palace. There were decorations everywhere with more attention to detail than Harry had ever seen. The grounds were immense, stretching as far as the eye could see, and full of magic. Harry was just itching to see the greenhouses and gardens that he had been told would be part of herbology, and the animals were so fantastic that he just _needed_ to see them all too. The carriage they had taken from the gate, from which you could see some of the nomaj city of Asheville, was pulled by an immense horse, with two long twirling horns on its head. Apparently, it was called a bicorn, a relative of unicorns that actually tolerated males of other species, and were known for being excellent guardians.

The gate itself was something outside of most people's imagining. Until you were past it, it looked like nothing but a run down arch in the middle of the woods. As soon as you passed through though, you could suddenly see the path, a carriage with its bicorn, and the gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper, Karnack, was a very odd-looking man. Standing only five or so feet tall, he had purple eyes without pupils. He never spoke a word to either of them, just nodding at the Headmistress and Harry. The headmistress informed him that Karnack was a mutant, like Harry, but one of the side effects of his mutation caused him to be mute. He also had the gift of never becoming bored, which the headmistress said was probably one of the greatest gifts she had ever heard of, though Harry was a bit skeptical. So many cool things mutants could do, and that poor fellow ended up mute, purple-eyed, and not bored. Harry hoped his mutation didn't turn out so… lame.

The path up to the school took quite some time, in which Headmistress Harkness filled him in on some of the basic rules for students, and for the relatively few residents. She wouldn't be surprised if there were a few more residents before the actual school year began, but she had gone a little earlier than normal for him and Hermione. The most important rule, he discovered rather quickly, was to obey the majordomo, Nippy. Nippy was a house-elf, odd little creatures who had workaholic burned into their very soul. Nippy had been the personal elf of the Harkness family since sometime in the fifteenth century and apparently was far to0 happy with being a commanding servant to actually die.

While Harry quickly realized that most of the elves believed themselves the greatest servant race to have ever existed, and prided themselves in that, Nippy was a commanding presence. When Nippy said to do something, it was done with all haste. Getting up was one of those, as when he had sleepily rolled over, Nippy had turned the bedsheets into ice with a snap of the fingers. Harry was now very much awake, but unable to extricate himself from the frozen covers.

"When Nippy be saying it is time to wake, Master Potter will be waking, getting cleaned, and getting dressed. Breaky is being served in half an hour in the breakyroom. If youse be getting lost, youse be asking the portraits for help. Now, up!" Nippy snapped again, and the covers returned to their warm and soft state. Harry was no fool though and quickly began his day.

He still didn't have nice clothes but knew he would be going to get some soon. When he opened the little bag that contained the rest of his clothing from the Dursleys, he was surprised to find it empty. Maybe the elves had put it away when he was sleeping? Checking in the wardrobe, he was shocked to see a bunch of clothes, and a small note sitting inside the door.

_Great Master Harry Potter, sir, be needing clothes befitting of his greatness. Wes be getting rid of rags he wears like a ill-treated house-elf and replaces them with clothes made by us. If you is needing anything else, please be calling for Carol. _

Harry sat down in front of the wardrobe, looking at clothes that were _his_, truly his for the first time in his memory. Not just clothes picked for him or by him though, clothes made for him, in the night, be people who seemed to accept him more as one of their own than his relatives ever had.

"Carol?" The call was weak and cracked, but a house-elf appeared nonetheless.

"What can Carol be doing for the Great Master Potter?" Her skin was a nice, light green, and her long ears quivered with excitement. Harry simply hugged her and said thank you. The little elf looked like Christmas had come early.

-o-o-

Getting school supplies was something Harry had wanted to do right away, and the herbology professor, a wood nymph called Professor Caltari, took him to the major magical shopping district in New York. Nymphs had an interesting method of travel, similar to apparition or a portkey, like he had taken to get to America, but a much weirder feeling. Like his body had turned into dust in the wind, and flew at a ridiculous speed. It wasn't instant like apparition, but it was also faster than anything non-magical. The entire trip to New York took less than an hour, though Harry spent the whole time trying to figure out what he was experiencing. He couldn't actually see or hear, as he didn't have eyes or ears during this time, but there was some etherial awareness of the world around them, and of Professor Caltari guiding him.

"Welcome to Waffling Alley, Mister Potter. We will be able to get your supplies here. Would you like my assistance, or would you like to explore and get your own things?" Caltari didn't have eyebrows, but there was something that made Harry realize that Caltari thought he should do it on his own, not out of any dislike of him, but that Caltari just thought he should be doing this on his own, like some kind of right of passage.

"I will shop on my own professor, but I don't have any money. I know the headmistress said that Gringotts would have my parent's money, but…" Harry was a bit embarrassed by getting this far before he remembered the money.

Caltari just laughed, a very strange sound indeed coming from a wooden being and gestured towards a large marble building. "Gringotts is the building there, and the goblins within will help you. I know you are British, but I don't think the distance will be an issue for the Goblins, they have some of the most fascinating magic when it comes to banking."

-o-o-

The bank teller had been somewhere between amused and annoyed the whole time, and from what he had said, Harry was fairly certain the Goblin Nation was overjoyed that the Boy-Who-Lived would not be attending schooling in Britain. Regardless, Harry was now armed with plenty of rather strange coins and was determined to get everything on his list before Caltari decided to hurry him up. He had no idea where the nymph was but knew Caltari would find him when the time was right.

Looking at his school supply list made Harry grin even more than he had been in this cool place. Magic was going to be so fun.

_APPALACHIAN ACADEMY OF MAGIC_

_Uniform_

First-year student will require:

Three sets of plain work robes

One winter cloak

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

_Books_

All students should have a copy of each:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

Magic Through the Ages by Steven Drafarihm

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling (1975 revised edition by Adalbert Waffling IV)

Transfiguration for Foolish Youngsters by Selene Gallio

Herbology Perfecta by Caltari

Potions for Beginners by Everard Smith

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: Understanding and Defending Against the Dark Arts by Quentin Trimble

Gobbledygook for Wizards by Clan Vrostok

Spellman's Syllabary by Spellman (we assume)

The Magic of Numbers by Gottlob Frege

_Equipment_

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 set brass scales

1 telescope (magical models only)

Students may also bring an owl, cat, or toad. Other pets will be considered on an individual basis.

Harry could hardly believe he would be buying some of this stuff, but could hardly wait to get shopping. The apothecary, where he picked up a variety of ingredients the shop owner said were fairly common in many potions and would be required for any extracurricular brewing he might do, was a horrid smelling shop, but the shop owner seemed to love every moment of the day, and was as happy to talk to a completely clueless child as he was to the old man who came in after to get sixteen pounds of newt livers.

Every shop he went to reminded him somehow just how different this world was to what he was used to. The magical artifact store, which housed the telescopes, had seemingly normal items that were anything but. A watch might tell the time, but that seemed to be an unusual feature, as most seemed to tell more of what you should be doing, or the positions of the planets. A ship in a bottle actually waved in the wind, and there were hourglasses of any time imaginable.

It wasn't until the book store, Argosy, that Harry really got lost in the shopping. While he got the books on the list, he also picked up a book on Saltwater Mermish, which the shopkeep said was very similar to the Freshwater Mermish he would learn in the fifth year at AAM, but had several differences and was used by a great many species in the oceans. A book on haircare magic also made its way into his bag and even one about the different sentient magical races.

Finally, the only thing left was a wand. The wand shop thrummed with unseen power, something Harry could feel even in the street as walked up.

"Welcome to Massie's Wands. I am Anya, and you are in need of a wand." The woman had a timeless look to her like she might be 20 or 200, and neither would be quite shocking. With a gesture not to speak, she moved around him, eyes moving over his skin, taking his measure without the need of any assistance. She reached out and poked him in the right arm, nodded, and vanished into the walls of wands.

_That was really weird. _When she returned, she had around a dozen different wands in her arms and seemed quite pleased about something.

"We use a wide variety of woods and cores for our wands. Nearly any tree you can imagine, and a few I bet you can't, are represented in this shop. The wand chooses the wizard, not the other way around. You will try various wands, and when one chooses you, you will know."

"Try this, nine and three-quarters inches, alder and hippogriff tail hair."

Harry took the wand and gave it a little wave. Anya's skin turned purple, and she snatched it away giggling.

"Very well, not that, try another. Cyprus and griffin feather, eleven inches." Anya almost snatched it back in time, but the wall he pointed it at now had a scorch mark, though neither had seen anything from the wand to indicate why.

On and on it went: occamy feather, re'em tail hair, tebo tuft, diricaw feather, unicorn tail hair, phoenix feather, even the heartstring of a dragon.

Finally, she came back with a want that almost seemed to still be alive. Little buds covered the upper three quarters, and Harry could almost hear it singing to him.

"Try this old thing. I've no idea what it's made of, nor of what the core is. My daughter made it, but wouldn't give me any hints as to what it might be. It's the only other core, so I hope it works." She seemed excited and a bit sad that all the other wands seemed to ignore Harry, or according to the wall, were rather annoyed to be in the hand of the wrong person.

When he touched it, he immediately felt whole. Not that he had been feeling without, but now he knew there was more to feel. The buds on the wand blossomed and floated through the air, glowing faintly, even as green and red sparks shot out the tip. A mild wind picked up in the enclosed shop, ruffling his hair.

"That's the one. Fourteen galleons and a sickle hun. More than normal, but it is both an unusual wand and an unusually good match. Use it well." With money in hand a quick thank you from Harry, she ushered him out of the shop.

Caltari materialized a moment after he exited with a happy expression. That expression turned to confusion when Harry showed the wand to him.

"It's a special one, Professor, but she doesn't actually know what it's made from. It's really cool!" Harry was indeed rather excited and was acting a little younger than he normally might.

"I have never seen such a wood, Mister Potter. That is saying something since I am a wood nymph. No doubt though, it is magical. Treasure such a wand, I doubt you will ever find its like. Now come, I see you are done shopping, and it is time to return to the school. I have some Arcturus Flower seeds for the school year that I want to get started. They are like sunflowers but only follow the star Arcturus. I've never actually seen them anywhere for sale, but today I got lucky."

Harry was very interested in such a strange-sounding plant, and they spent the entire trip home discussing how some magical plants fed off magic from certain origins rather than the actual light. Caltari even told him about a nigh unto mythical flowering shrub that could only be seen for a few moments every five thousand years when certain planets come into alignment.

-o-o-

One should note, however, that speaking and listening while in wind travel is very bad for the mind of a wizard once he reforms, and can cause some very serious migraines. Magical means of relieving headaches and migraines also do not work that well, much to the mediwizard's dismay. As such, Harry spent the following day and most of the one after that in the dark and near silence, before coming back into the public.

"Mister Potter, it is good to see you among us again," Headmistress Harkness greeted him as he sat for lunch in the dining hall, "you are well I hope?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm very sorry about that, but Professor Caltari and I just got rather into the conversation."

She smiled at him and nudged Caltari, who was next to her. "It is nothing dear, the school year has not started, so you didn't miss anything but a couple of new residents moving in." She began introductions to various other full-time residents of the school, all of whom so far were older students. Many spent part of the summer months with friends, and some even had summer jobs, so weren't seen much during the day. The last student, however, captured his attention.

"And this is Hae Pak, she will be beginning this year with you. She doesn't speak much English yet, but is learning with Professor Ulu, our languages teacher." Ulu, who looked to be half-goblin, waved.

Hae was a very exotic looking girl, a heart-shaped face with Asian features, though Harry had not been exposed to enough other cultures to make any kind of guesses. Her skin color managed to capture the attention quite quickly, as it seemed to change to a slight red when she realized she was being discussed. Harry moved to sit by her, and welcomed her, even knowing there wasn't much to be understood between them.

Throughout dinner, Harry noticed several of the mermish and half mermish students giving Hae distrustful glances, though he couldn't figure out why. There were several other Asian students, and speaking a different language was normal as could be in a school that took students from all over the world. It wasn't until dinner had finished that Harry realized there might be more to Hae than being Asian with color-changing skin. When she rose from her chair and began towards Professor Ulu, he noticed she walked very strangely. He could see what looked like tentacles appear every so often from beneath her robe. That was pretty cool. After she rounded the corner, Headmistress Harkness asked everyone else to hold still for a moment.

"I know to most of you, this will not apply, but I am going to say it anyway. Hae is half-cecaelia, similar to a merperson, but with octopus-like features rather than fishlike ones. There is bad blood between most merfolk and cecaelia, but that is not to carry over into the Academy. Hae has never done anything to anyone, nor can I imagine all cecaelia are as bad as the mermish legends. You all look down on humans who look down on goblins or hags for some of their members' actions, so too must you realize that the same applies to Hae."

Her speech left all of the half mermish students and most of the mermish ones blushing, though it was harder to tell. Those who were half mermish looked very much human until the fishtail, though a few had the finlike ears or webbed hands. Those who were full merfolk, just with wizarding magic, had skin the same colors as their scales, finlike ears, webbed hands, and very sharp features. They simply glided through the halls thanks to talismans they learned to make in the latter years of school.

"Forgive us, headmistress. You are correct of course," a very tall mermaid, who Harry thought was called Meridian, said. "It is more difficult for us to make the same jump of logic without it being pointed out, as we have few prejudices. Cecaelia are feared above all else to the ocean tribes. The river and lake tribes even remember the fear. The cecaelia and Dark Lady Ursula reigns as master of the deep tribes to this day, and none have ever come back from her realm.

"However," here she looked at her fellow merfolk, both full and part, "we will reign in our ingrained fear. Hay, Hae, is not our enemy. Even if she were the daughter of Ursula herself, she is her own person, as we all are. Let us rejoice in a student of such an unusual race coming to our school."

-o-o-

Several other students came to the school over the next few days, each with interesting biology or mutations, but none whom Harry and Hae, who had become fast friends as he used Professor Ulu's time with Hae to learn a little Korean and Cecaelian Mermish than Ororo Munroe. Her deep black skin and shockingly white hair made her stand out, and she immediately found Hae fascinating. Ororo had an immense mind for languages, as she apparently already spoke a half dozen, and helped Professor Ulu teach Hae. Even Ulu, who generally considered humans a bit slow, though kept it to himself, was impressed.

Ororo had a hard time with the concept of proper attire, according to Hae, something they all found funny. Apparently, Ororo had spent about a year living on the Serengeti without human contact very often and had shed her ideas of clothing rather quickly.

Hae found this to be fascinating, as her own family cultures often clashed about the same. Her father was a cecaelia, who believe clothes were disturbing, and her mother was a very proper little Korean witch who believed that skin should be well hidden most of the time. Hae had been raised by them both until discovering she would not be allowed to attend the magical school in Japan, which was the same country magically speaking, as magical Japan had never retreated after the second world war. Her parents wanted her to learn English and has thus sent her on ahead of time for the first year. Hae would use magic to understand for a while in her classes but would learn soon enough.

Ororo was also well aware of her mutation, though had not really understood her own magic yet. Apparently, she had quite a bit of control over the weather, and could accurately predict what the weather would do without her intervention for several weeks. Professor Caltari was as close to drooling about her abilities the first day Harry brought her to the greenhouses and asked them to help with the watering. Ororo had just laughed.

Her eyes turned shock white while a wind seemed to whip up lightly before it began to rain gently in the greenhouse. Caltari had been dismayed to learn it wasn't magic, but rather her mutant ability, and therefore he would be unable to learn it.

The tenth day of Harry's stay at the Academy was his birthday, which through Harry for a total loop when he was surprised with a small birthday party. Carol had organized it with Ororo and Hae, and his few new friends were all there. Presents were given and cake was eaten, and everyone bonded a bit more. Nippy even popped in and approved of the celebration, which both Harry and Carol took as high praise indeed.

Everything was pretty much perfect until Harry had a panic attack from the shock of it, never having had such a degree of attention before. Carol got him back up and feeling better rather quickly though. Apparently, it was a normal reaction for house-elves from some parts of the world who were sent to better places. One simply never expects to be treated like they actually matter.

Harry had never been happier in his life. Everything seemed to be going basically perfect until three days later when a beautiful snowy owl. Settled before him during the breakfast mail delivery.

"Hello there, are you lost?" Harry had never actually gotten a piece of mail, so assumed the owl was confused. Its affronted hoot and glare told Harry that his idea was ludicrous, and he should immediately rectify his mindset. When she stuck out a leg and looked at him imperiously, he simply took the letter without fuss. This was not an owl to cross.

The letter was indeed addressed to him, and he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ororo and the owl seemed to be comparing coloration. The untidy scrawl on the letter simply said _Harry Potter, wherever he be_. Opening it carefully, as he had no one who would send him mail via owl who wasn't currently in the academy, he was happy to ready a pleasant greeting.

_Dear Harry,_

_I hope this reaches you, but no other owl has been willing to go wherever you are. When I asked the owls at Eyelops if any of them could deliver to you, every other one looked like I was insane, but this beauty just hoped up on me collar and demanded to be bought. _

_I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. You'll know all about Hogwarts of course, but I still wanted to introduce myself. I was a friend of your parents, and was sent to the Dursleys to find ya when we found out that Hogwarts couldn't send you mail. The Dursleys assured me you were safe, but elsewhere. Dumbledore, that's the headmaster, wasn't too happy, but will respect your current guardians wishes as long as you are getting a magical education from someone. _

_Please ask this fine owl to send us back a letter knowing you are ok. If your not, send one back telling us that anyway. If you can't write, tell the owl and I'm fairly certain she will find a way to help you. She's yours, by the way, I was meaning to buy you a birthday present, and owls are ruddy useful._

_Wishing you well,_

_Hagrid_

Harry was ecstatic all over again. Not only had he gotten his first piece of mail, but had also gotten an owl, a beautiful one at that, and discovered that someone, even someone he had never met before, seemed to care about him.

Harry handed it to Ororo, who helped Hae read it, apparently using it to show some of the characters used in the alphabet when drawn quite badly. Both were very happy for him, and Hae quickly produced quill and ink for him. Harry had perfectly awful handwriting with them so far but figured this Hagrid fellow would probably not mind too much, as his was only marginally better.

_Dear Mister Hagrid,_

_Thank you so much for both the letter and the owl! You may not know this, but this was the first birthday I have ever celebrated, except the first I suppose but of course, I don't remember that one. She will be cherished always. Thank you again. This is also the first letter I have ever received and truly appreciate it._

_I am doing really well, and have made some great friends where I am now. Headmistress Harkness from the Appalachian Academy of Magic came to visit me about two weeks ago and discovered that my relatives did not want me there, so gladly took me on as a resident of the school. Turns out that along with being a wizard, I am a mutant, so I probably would not be welcome in England once my mutation shows, if it has an outward sign. _

_I really appreciate your letter and concern, and if you can tell me anything about my parents I would love to hear it._

_Harry Potter_

Harry's letter winged its way out with the newly christened Hedwig, a name from their history books after she had a day to rest. That letter would set in motion more than anyone could ever account for.

-o-o-

**A/N - The next chapter will be a bit of what's going on back at Hogwarts, and reactions from some of our favourite characters. No Dumbledore isn't happy, but this Dumbeldore realizes he may have made a mistake when he learns just how happy the Dursleys are not to have Harry, and the revelation of him being a mutant may be enough to stay his hand. My Albus is also a mutant, so understands more than many others.**

**RiverEridani**


	4. Reactions

**Chapter 4: Britain Reacts**

The day after Headmistress Harkness left for America with Harry, Professor Minerva McGonagall was having an argument with one of the school owls. It had left the previous evening with its letter but had returned without delivery. She blanched when she read it.

_Mister H Potter_

_The cupboard under the stairs_

_4 Privet Drive_

_Little Whinging, Surrey_

That couldn't be. She had known they were the worst sort of Muggles imaginable, but to have the child sleep in a cupboard? Unthinkable. She had half a mind to deliver it herself to fix that issue.

Then the fact it was undeliverable hit her, and she began to hyperventilate. What if Harry Potter had died? She gathered herself and made for the headmaster's office, letter in hand, and a somewhat frightened owl flying out her window.

-o-o-

In his office, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore shivered to his core. If being a hundred and eleven years old had taught him anything, it was that this sensation was tied to a great deal of stress in his future. He didn't put to much stock in divination but knew the truth of this. The fact his phoenix, Fawkes, vanished in a pillar of fire a moment later was confirmation that it would begin soon.

Sure enough, not thirty seconds later Minerva came through the door, not a knock to be heard. He was well aware she only did this when she was in a temper or terrified and hoped it was a temper, though the look on her face hinted more toward terrified.

She through a letter on the desk in front of him, saying only one word through thin lips and a terrified expression, "Undeliverable."

When Albus read the recipient, his mind went into overdrive. Harry Potter was undeliverable? That didn't make sense. The cupboard under the stairs? How could they do such a thing? Then his mind made the same jump Minerva's had. If this letter was addressed yesterday, and was undeliverable this morning, to a boy apparently sleeping in a cupboard, there was every chance he had died.

Albus felt plans and machinations falling away from him at an unprecedented speed. He hadn't felt so vulnerable in more than forty years and hated the feeling with a passion.

First and foremost would be the immediate backlash from Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, dying at the hands of Muggles. Every law to protect and encourage interaction between their cultures would be cut off, repealed, or directly reversed within months. The Daily Prophet would have articles on it for months, and he, Minerva, and Hagrid would probably be lucky to escape Azkaban. Hiding it was out of the question, as it would be worse if people only realized Harry Potter was gone due to their children saying he wasn't at Hogwarts.

His plans for luring Voldemort out might still work, but he would no longer need to test Harry's skills and bravery, so could set up a much more effective trap. That redesign at least could be fun if he managed to pull enough strings to remain headmaster. Supreme Mugwump and Chief Warlock were out of the question though, and he would need to carefully engineer replacements before the news got out. Amelia Bones for Chief Witch? Perhaps the Latvarian Representative for Supreme Mugwump?

Through all of his plans and machinations, a single thought began to form in his mind, something he hadn't thought about in years. True sorrow at this boy's death. After another moment, he realized he had been playing the game too hard for too long, looking at the big picture and not all the small ones. He had stopped looking at the little pictures the night he heard the prophecy, just trying to make it work in his favor, and forgetting the actual people involved. The Longbottoms were insane, and Potters were dead, and Severus was basically his personal slave.

He looked to the school, and realized something else, he had been a headmaster in name only, leaving all the duties of such to Minerva, but she did not actually have the authority to make any real changes that could help the school. He had seen the pamphlets, watched as first Appalachian and later Castlebruxo passed his school. Unthinkable under any other headmaster, but had been to busy to actually run the school.

Wait! Another school. Could that be the answer? Had someone poached Potter to their school, just after the letter had been addressed? That would explain the undeliverable status if he was anywhere but Beaubatons. Few owls would make long flights like that unless they personally knew the recipient.

He would send Hagrid to the Dursleys to get information. But first, he had to calm the lion that was now openly weeping in his office. He had indeed put far too much on Minerva for these years. Even if Harry Potter was alive, he would have to step down from his other roles and just be the headmaster. Maybe he could get the curriculum back up to where it had been when he was a student, or better when his teachers had been.

-o-o-

Vernon and Petunia Dursley were having a perfectly normal day, in fact, it was one of the most normal days they had had in a decade since they no longer had the freak in the house. Sure the old freak lady had been terrifying and had left them in a near-catatonic state for a couple of days, but they now just had themselves and Dudley to deal with. A perfectly normal family.

A knocking at the door had Petunia up and about in a moment, still hoping the photographer from the local magazine would pick her house before the gardens got out of her control. Really the Freak had been useful in that regard. But upon opening the door, her greeting was frozen mid-word, as she looked upon a man who could not possibly be normal.

He had to have been eleven feet tall, weighed half again more than Vernon, though the man only looked overweight rather than obese, and had a black, wiry beard that had to have been three feet long, without really being excessive on such a man.

"G' day Missus Dursley, meh name's Hagrid. Mind if I come in?" He pushed past her rather gently, and only managed to stand inside due to the stairwell being right inside the door. As soon as she had closed the door, he began.

"I'm here 'bout Harry. I saw the letter, making a boy sleep in a cupboard under the stairs? You'd better tell me where he is. Now." His voice was low but carried easily to Vernon in the living room. His blustered indignation and self-righteous tirade that would normally have begun at this point stuttered out seeing the gigantic man, whose kind face radiated malice.

"Now see here, sir, the boy left of his own accord with that professor woman, seemed happy to go too. She seemed the soft sort," Vernon quite thought the opposite mind, but it seemed a good line, "so the boy should be fine. Now, please leave. He isn't here, and we have nothing to do with any of your lot anymore."

Hagrid left, though not before putting the fear of pink umbrellas into the Dursleys, and returned to Dumbledore with the news. Dumbledore was relieved to hear that he had been taken by a professor but was also sad to see him attend another school.

"Do you think you can get an owl to Mister Potter Hagrid? I know none of the school ones will deliver internationally, and I do want to be sure he is ok." Hagrid assured him it that if it could be done, he would do it. Hagrid, being the kind soul he was understood the need for not using normal means to send him a letter but didn't quite make the leap to keeping it quiet from the owner of Eyelop's Owl Emporium. It would be in the Daily Prophet within three days that Hagrid had needed a special bird to send Harry Potter a letter. Rumors would abound.

-o-o-

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, looking sadly at his letter of resignation from the office of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. He'd had the office for nearly thirty-five years, and would miss it in many ways. Albus was a politician, no doubt, but was a teacher and a headmaster first. He hoped his plan to have Madam Bones take the position would work, but he had a bad feeling that others might have similar ideas.

Albus also had his ICW resignation in hand, this one he had similar feelings for, but he had come to terms with everything. The world for others to worry about, he just needed to worry about the school. Voldemort was an issue of course, but he would be consulting with a couple of really seers, those who understood what was going on, tomorrow. He knew he had done too much by himself and lost his way in it. Perhaps he could fix some of it.

The return letter from Mister Potter had exhilarated him. If there was any school that taught absolute tolerance, it was Appalachian. It had been a long-term goal he had had once, long ago, for Hogwarts. Though he had made minimal progress in that regard, it still had hope, and if Harry was going to another school, at least it was that one. Hagrid had been intrigued by the idea of the school for some reason Albus didn't understand. Hagrid had been accepted, of course, being half-giant, but Dumbledore had convinced Headmaster Dippet to try him out.

While Hagrid's expulsion had made it almost impossible for half-giants to get schooling here, it had made Hagrids life still much better than he would have faced without schooling. Dumbledore had to wonder if he would have been better off at Appalachian though.

In any case, Albus had a long day explaining mutants to Hagrid and Minerva. Minerva had heard of course, but always believed it magic rather than something muggle, and Hagrid had been so isolated in the magical world it hadn't come up. Due to Hagrid's accent and simple way of talking, people usually assumed he was fairly slow, and so such a complex topic had not come up. Hagrid understood it just fine, however, as some centaurs had extra abilities, though only one in the local herd.

-o-o-

_Boy-Who-Lived Attending Foreign School!_

_You read that's right dear readers, the famous Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, will be attending Appalapachia Academy of Magic in the colonies! Reliable sources within the Department of Magical Education told us that Harry Potter, whose name has been down for Hogwarts since his birth, was removed by magic. When confronted about why his name was removed, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore stated that 'Mister Potter has decided to attend Appalapachia Academy of Magic' and that this decision sparked what Dumbledore assured me would be fascinating developments in Britain._

_For the Boy-Who-Lived not to be attending Hogwarts in indeed a fascinating development, but not in the good way. What has made our boy hero believe Britain isn't the place to go? Hogwarts is certainly still the best school of magic in the world, and as a matter of fact, this foreign school doesn't even rank on the ICW school list! What, dear readers, is going on?_

-o-o-

Minister Cornelius Fudge was reading the following article, which basically attacked the ministry for allowing such a travesty, with white-knuckled hands. What was going on indeed? He'd never even heard of this Appalapapachia place or whatever it was, and couldn't understand what would make anyone want to attend this foreign school?

"Delores, what do you know of this Appapchia school?" He asked his Senior Undersecretary Delores Umbridge, and close personal advisor. She was a very knowledgeable woman after all even if she had some extreme views on certain subjects.

Delores sneered, which Fudge knew was a bad sign for her extremism. Oh, joy, "It's possibly the worst school in the entire world, Minister. They especially cater to half-breeds, abominations, and even half-breed abominations. There isn't a single respectable student at the place, and the headmistress is Agatha Harkness. She was the ritual magic professor at Hogwarts until the ministry wisely banned the practice of such things.

"It's in the colonies, or as they now call themselves, America. Very small, taking students from every corner of the world. Centaurs, half-goblins, even half-giants are welcome at that disgusting school. One of the teachers is a wood nymph who had the audacity to learn our branch of magic. The place should be burned to the ground, but the ICW is afraid of Harkness. Apparently when they tried to have the school shut down she took on a whole battalion of ICW forces by herself. She gave a goblin a wand! Those filthy creatures are forbade from ever practicing our magic again, by international law, and she just did it anyway!"

Fudge knew how Delores though about half-breeds, an opinion he did not really care about. Purebloods were best, but half-blood, muggle-born, halfling, it didn't matter after that. He'd even dated a very beautiful Banshee when he was young, something he had ruthlessly suppressed. But the idea of training goblins got to him.

He had been one of the only students in Hogwarts history who found Professor Binns lessons interesting, and knew that if it hadn't been for constant fighting with the goblins, the statute of secrecy would likely not have come into being, and the wizards would naturally be the leaders, with muggles as their paper pushers and second class. The ideas that bothered Delores would be void, as it would only matter that they had magic, and others didn't.

Now they were taking the Boy-Who-Lived? He was a half-blood, sure, but half muggle-born not half mermaid or something.

"You said they also accepted abominations, what did you mean by that one Delores?"

"There are beings of any species with abilities beyond the norm. My mother was one of the weird ones who liked to talk to the muggles in the nearby town you know, and she knew a woman whose daughter developed the ability to turn into a gas, something like perfected fumation. Mother thought she might be a magical who had been missed, or perhaps a squid with only the ability to do that one trick, but her scans said the girl was completely muggle.

"I've heard of all kinds of beings with these abominations. Do you know who Captain Britain is? The muggle who somehow wields Merlin's magic, that we are not allowed to interfere with?"

Fudge nodded, it was a sore spot in the international community, as the laws of Britain, which had been greatly written and/or rewritten by Merlin, said that whosoever wielded his magic was to be protected by anyone with magic in Britain. That included from the ICW, and Dumbledore was the only reason the ICW didn't storm Britain to start wiping memories and probably turn over such laws.

"Indeed, while he wields the magic of Merlin himself, somehow the muggle is worthy, his sister is supposedly one such abomination. She can use legilimancy, both active and passive, without eye contact. Indeed, she can supposedly do it for more than a mile, and can even identify people's minds before she can even see them." Delores' sneer was impressive in its scope and hatred.

"I suppose Potter must be one such? How can we find out, for that matter, how did they find out? We need him to attend Hogwarts Delores, the ministries position internationally isn't that good to my understanding. We don't need the bad press. Get Barty, maybe he has some ideas."

-o-o-

Arrival day for the students arrived clear as could be, a beautiful mountain sky open above them, and a gentle breeze helping the temperature become something warm but pleasant. Harry, Hae, and Ororo were milling around with most of the students who were already there, awaiting the others arrivals. Harry, for one, wanted to see Hermione again, and his two friends thoroughly agreed. Ororo was particularly interested in meeting a mutant magical nomaj-born like herself, and Hae just wanted to meet someone that Harry felt was smart. Hae and Ororo knew Harry was smart, even if he usually tried to downplay it.

The fact that he had picked up enough of Ororo's and Hae's native languages for basic conversation in only a month was a good sign for this, though no one could match Ororo, whose English was better than Harry's and her Korean was close to Hae's. Harry's seemingly natural inclination to seem like the slowest member of any group bothered both girls, and they were hoping a third one on their crusade against his acting like that would work.

At eleven o'clock on the dot, the first few students appeared in a swirl of color, looking a bit queasy but not that bad overall. One caught Harry's eye immediately, as the girl, who was probably in her final year at Appalachian, had clear skin. While she wore a hood, presumably to protect her from the sun, or just staring, she was still quite visible. Muscles were not meant to be seen moving like that, but she still managed a rather composed air about her.

Every three minutes a new group of students would come in. There were ninety-nine returning students, and an expected class of thirty for the first years, though Harry had heard at least a couple of European students had been accepted into Beaubatons, half-breed status or not, as the new headmistress was a half-giant, and graduate of AAM herself. Twenty-seven students had been waiting in the grass for others, and one student was in the hospital wing, as the almost fifth year had managed to turn her arms into cactuses. The schools medi-wizard was having a fun time of fixing the issue and making the girl understand every step of how to fix it herself.

Each group had interesting students. Most looked like halflings of various forms, though a few were obviously fully non-human. At last, after waiting for more than an hour the portkey that brought Hermione appeared. Hermione appeared with two goblins and a half-goblin, all older students, and a very sickly looking boy who appeared about their age. They were the only British students, but it was still an impressive number considering how small the isles were.

"Hermione!" Harry's voice managed to carry to the still queasy girl, and she rushed over to him. Her hair was as big and bushy as he remembered, but her hug of greeting was something to make a python jealous.

"Oh my gosh! Harry, I'm so glad to see you! What have you been up to? What's it like here? Who are your friends?" Hermione finally sucked in a breath, and Harry interjected.

"It's good to see you too Hermione. This is Ororo," the beautiful black girl nodded regally to Hermione, who looked like she had just added twenty questions to her mental queue, "and this is Hae," who smiled, her English not yet good enough to keep up with the fast-talking girl.

"They are both going to be first years with us. Hae has only been speaking English for about a month now though, so asking questions as fast as you were won't work. She is very smart, and so is Ororo, so the three of you should get along well."

Hermione smiled at the two girls, and Harry could see when she realized that Hae had tentacles rather than legs, but being that she was attending a magical school with mutants to boot, it was interest, not any one of the emotions that might have crossed her face had she attended another school.

"It is nice to meet you, Hermione." Ororo's voice had a power that few adults could manage, even though she still sounded eleven, she sounded like the eleven-year-old weather goddess she was. "Harry has been most eager to see you again, plus to see another brit seems to please him. The American English amuses him to no end."

"Hello, I am Hae," Hae then said something in Korean to Ororo, who responded in kind.

"I think we should get a carriage, as I believe you were of the last portkey and everyone is heading back. There will be a translation charm on the dining hall tonight so everyone can get back in the habit of using English.

They clambered into a carriage, with Hermione asking questions of them, the school, and the bicorn that pulled them along. Hae had convinced the others to not answer questions about the school just yet, wanting to surprise the other girl, something Hermione seemed both irritated and excited about.

Her first view of the school as they came out of the trees stopped Hermione's questions. It was indeed a beautiful school, though much smaller than any other magical school in the world, it still housed its hundred-plus students and twenty or so staff quite easily. Everyone agreed, life was about to become truly interesting.

-o-o-

The dining hall sat everyone comfortable, though Harry was certain the table had been enlarged to fit everyone. Also how a half-giant and a half gnome could sit side by side comfortably pushed the bounds of his expanding imagination. Magic just did some amazing things. The headmistress rose from her place at the head of the table, and silence flowed down the table.

"Welcome to Appalachian Academy of Magic! I am Headmistress Agatha Harkness, and I hope each of you has had a truly wonderful summer. We have a very full school this year, with a hundred twenty-seven students, all of whom I believe will be a credit to our school. Please be aware that no student under fifth-year may go into the forest unaccompanied by an older student or teacher, and that no student may wander into the nearby nomaj town of Asheville. The muggles have no idea that we are here, and we will be keeping it that way.

"We must also have a most serious talk, one each of you will have had with your recruiter in some form or fashion, and all our old students must remember as well. Discrimination will not be tolerated in any form or fashion. Every student here, every single one, is unique. We will celebrate our differences, not bully each other for them. We are a school where the only common factors are that we all have magical cores and are sapient, everything else is up in the air. Mutants, halflings, and nonhumans, all of us will strive to be the best we can, and celebrate everyone else.

"Please also be aware that many religions are represented here. Many races you haven't interacted with will have their own faiths you are unfamiliar with, we even have a first-year student who is worshiped as a goddess in the Serengeti. No one will bully or neigh say another's faith. Learning is fine, hate is not.

"Schedules will be found on your bedside table tomorrow, and every new student is expected to be in the hall for breakfast by seven for an orientation to the school. That includes those of you who were here for part of the summer. Please follow Mister Potter and Miss Munroe," here they stood up, "who will show the rest of you to your rooms. Off to bed everyone, enjoy your dreams."

Harry began to gather the boys of the year, which consisted of thirteen members, while Ororo gathered the fifteen girls. Once Harry had everyone, which embarrassed him immensely to have everyone staring at him, he headed up the top floor, where the first years would be housed this time around.

"There are three rooms for the boys, which are down the hall to the right, and three for the girls. We can't get into each other's side, so don't bother trying. We've got thirteen, so a group of five and two groups of four would work best. If anyone already has anyone they need to be with, please partner up now." A couple of the kids scooted together, one set who looked like siblings, and three who just seemed to hit it off well.

"Excuse me," one boy, a centaur Harry thought, though he had never seen one who wore a robe that covered the horse section as well, piped up. "I'm Hector, um, don't know about sleeping in a room. I've always slept under the sky. Centaur you know, a bed seems rather odd."

Harry smiled at his way of speaking, and figured there was something to do for that, "Carol," she appeared with a pop, startling some but not others. "Hector here is not used to sleeping indoors, and wants to know if there is anything we can do for him?"

Carol nodded happily, "Carol can be making one room look likes it is being outside. Please be making sure you choose roommates who like outdoorsiness too."

Carol popped away to begin her work, and the three students who had bunched together came forward to offer to sleep with Hector. Harry ended up with the brothers, fraternal twins they called it, who said their parents had been students here, a half-gnome and a half-goblin, as well as the only new male student who had a very obvious physical mutation. His body was covered in eyes, each a bright blue, and all looking about curiously. The last room was the one that held five, whom all seemed unsure about each other but willing to be friends. Harry was just glad that there didn't seem to be too much tension, aside from regular nerves.


End file.
